Latest News

Buzz Bingo to Restructure Retail Portfolio

Published

4 years ago

July 15, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Buzz Bingo today announces a proposal to restructure its retail estate through the implementation of a company voluntary arrangement (‘CVA’). This follows a period of productive consultation with Buzz Bingo’s various stakeholders, including its landlords, aimed at securing a sustainable long-term future for the business following the outbreak of Covid-19 and resultant lockdown.

Under the proposed terms of the CVA, while the majority of clubs (91) will continue to trade, 26 clubs will close permanently due to what the company expects will be an unsustainable operating environment for the foreseeable future.

Across the rest of the portfolio, Buzz Bingo has been engaged in constructive dialogue with landlords to better align the rents of certain clubs relative to forecast trading. Regrettably, the proposed CVA will potentially impact 573 of Buzz’s c.3400 colleagues across the business, whom Buzz Bingo is committed to supporting at this difficult time.

The challenges facing businesses at this unprecedented time of lockdown due to COVID-19 are well understood. Like many others in the leisure and entertainment sector, Buzz Bingo was forced to close all its clubs across the UK, which have remained closed since Saturday 21 March. It put immediate measures in place: minimising costs where possible, reducing senior management pay and making use of the Government’s furlough scheme for the vast majority of employees.

Despite this, Buzz Bingo’s daily operations and its ability to generate revenues from its retail club portfolio has been severely impacted.

While Buzz Bingo intends to commence the reopening of its clubs from 6 August, it expects that it will take time for footfall to return to pre Covid-19 levels due to social distancing measures and customer confidence to socialise indoors taking time to rebuild, particularly among Buzz Bingo’s customer group.

The management believe the proposed CVA provides the best possible outcome for all of Buzz Bingo’s stakeholders as it looks to secure a sustainable long-term future for the business and its remaining c.2800 employees.

Buzz Bingo’s owner, Caledonia Investments, has indicated its willingness to provide an additional £22m of equity capital (in addition to the £5m that it invested in Buzz Bingo in May, 2020) once the CVA becomes effective. The new equity capital will be augmented with an additional £10m of debt provided by Buzz Bingo’s existing lender.

Chris Matthews, Chief Executive, Buzz Bingo commented:

“The ongoing pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for the entire leisure and hospitality sector and an immediate and significant impact on our business.

Following a thorough review of our options, the proposed CVA will restructure our retail portfolio to ensure we are well positioned for a return to growth, while adapting to the ongoing, challenging environment as we start to reopen the majority of our clubs.

Our lenders are supporting our plans and our owners, Caledonia will be investing into the new structure to further strengthen our future business.

The restructure will, very sadly, impact a number of our colleagues and my priority is to support all those affected and keep them fully informed as we continue with this process. I would like to thank every single one of our colleagues for their continued understanding and commitment over this period.”

Melanie Leech, Chief Executive, British Property Federation (BPF) comments:

“These situations are never easy, particularly now for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on our high streets at the sharp end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Property owners, however, need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including the millions of people whose savings and pensions are invested in commercial property, as they vote on any CVA proposal.

Buzz Group and AlixPartners engaged with the BPF before launching this CVA proposal. This has provided us an opportunity to improve understanding of property owners’ interests and concerns, but ultimately it will be for individual property owners to decide how they will vote on the CVA.”

Buzz Bingo will seek creditor approval of the CVA Proposal which is due on 3^rd August. The online business will continue to trade as usual during this period.

Canada

Scientific Games Partnership Wins 2024 Gutenberg Award for Sustainability

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

scientific-games-partnership-wins-2024-gutenberg-award-for-sustainability

Scientific Games, in partnership with Loto-Québec, Sustana Papers and Recyc-Québec, won the 2024 Gutenberg Award for sustainability at the 42^nd Gala Gutenberg. The Gutenberg Awards are the Québec printing industry’s premier event, highlighting the talent, creativity and expertise of printing artisans.

The partnership’s winning entry was the Le Billet Vert (The Green Ticket) lottery instant scratch game launched by Loto-Québec in April 2024. The game was printed on 100% recycled board provided by Sustana Papers, with 100% water-based inks. Scientific Games enhanced the sustainability of the production process by packing completed games in boxes containing 60% recycled fiber and delivering them on reused European Pallet Association pallets.

The game promotes the recycling of lottery tickets, inviting players to download Recyc-Québec’s Ça va où? (Where Does It Go?) mobile app. The app teaches users to correctly sort recyclables and shows them drop-off locations for various types of household waste.

Isabelle Jean, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Lottery Games for Loto-Québec, said, “Since our first scratch game printed on 100% recycled paper stock debuted in 2021, our sustainability efforts have only increased. Congratulations to our team members from Loto-Québec, Scientific Games, Sustana Papers and Recyc-Québec for their vision. Together, we are reducing the environmental footprint of our games.”

The sustainable materials and game production techniques used for Le Billet Vert saved 110 mature trees, the equivalent of 326 10-minute showers, and the electrical power of 882,587 60-watt lightbulbs in one hour (Sustana Solutions eco calculator).

Marc-Andre Doyon, Vice President Canada for Scientific Games, said, “Through this collaboration, Scientific Games and our partners lead the global lottery industry in instant game sustainability. It’s truly an honor to win the Gutenberg Award for our efforts.”

Le Billet Vert is the thirteenth 100% recyclable game created for Loto-Québec since 2021 when Scientific Games and the Lottery began collaborating on a project to bring sustainable instant games to the lottery industry. Another game from this collection, Folie des plantes (Plant Madness), won the Gutenberg Award for sustainability in 2022. Other 100% recyclable Loto-Québec games produced by Scientific Games include Evasion (Escape), Code secret (Secret Code), SLINGO 10X and C’est quoi ton signe? (What’s Your Sign?).

Scientific Games is Loto-Québec’s primary instant game partner, producing the Lottery’s first instant game more than 50 years ago. The company has employed generations of Québécois professionals from their Montréal production facility, which produces instant games for Canadian and European lotteries.

With products that generate more than 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider, and the primary provider to nine of the Top 10 performing instant game lotteries in the world (La Fleur’s 2024 World Lottery Almanac).

Industry Awards

Soft2Bet’s Betinia shortlisted in five categories of the EGR Marketing and Innovation Awards

Published

7 hours ago

May 8, 2024

George Miller

soft2bet’s-betinia-shortlisted-in-five-categories-of-the-egr-marketing-and-innovation-awards

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Nominations in five categories of the EGR Marketing and Innovation Awards is further recognition of Soft2Bet’s cutting-edge gamification solutions and innovative approach.

Soft2Bet, a leading provider of iGaming turnkey solutions, is delighted to announce that Betinia, its renowned brand in Denmark and Sweden, has been shortlisted in five categories of the EGR Marketing and Innovation Awards 2024.

The nominations are recognition of the incredible work that has been achieved by the Betinia team in two of Europe’s most competitive and regulated markets.

Betinia’s shortlisting in the following categories:

Best Native App,
CRM Campaign,
Innovation in Sports Betting,
Innovation of The Year,
Responsible Gambling Marketing Campaign of the Year, demonstrates how it has grown into being one of the most innovative and progressive operators in the industry.

Soft2Bet was recognised in February when its Motivational Engineering Gaming Application (MEGA) gamification solution won the Innovation of the Year at the EGR Nordics Awards and it is delighted to see its achievements gain further recognition with these shortlist nominations.

Oksana Tsyhankova, CMO of Soft2Bet, commented: “Being shortlisted in five categories is a great achievement and huge credit goes to our technical, product and marketing teams. Betinia’s success in two of Europe’s most competitive and regulated markets is also highly satisfying because it showcases our B2C expertise in driving engagement, retention and revenues.”

The post Soft2Bet’s Betinia shortlisted in five categories of the EGR Marketing and Innovation Awards appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Betmotion

Betmotion leads campaign to aid victims of the Rio Grande do Sul floods

Published

8 hours ago

May 8, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

betmotion-leads-campaign-to-aid-victims-of-the-rio-grande-do-sul-floods

In response to the recent and devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul, which have displaced over 100,000 people and severely affected 70% of the state’s municipalities, Betmotion, through its Corporate Social Responsibility project, BetSocial, is mobilising efforts to assist the victims of this catastrophe.

BetSocial has launched an initiative to support the actions of the NGOs Ação da Cidadania and CUFA, which are leading the charge in providing immediate aid to the impacted communities. At this critical moment, BetSocial is reinforcing the call for everyone to unite in solidarity and make donations that will be crucial for reconstructing affected lives.

“The tragedy that has struck Rio Grande do Sul requires a swift and coordinated response. At Betmotion, we believe in the power of solidarity and in our community’s ability to make a difference in times of need,” states Bianca Passos, founding member of BetSocial. “Every contribution, no matter how small, has a significant impact on the lives of those facing such difficult days.”

To facilitate donations, BetSocial has provided information on how to make contributions via PIX to the two partner organisations:

Ação da Cidadania: [email protected]
CUFA: [email protected]

Betmotion and BetSocial thank you in advance for your support and solidarity. They reiterate their commitment to work to alleviate the hardships faced by this catastrophe’s victims and continue promoting significant social impact actions.